Ironing machine



,Feb. 17, 1925.

IRONING MACHINE Filed Sept. 1 -0 TTORNEY Feb. 17. 1925. 1,526,403

R. Y. WELLER IRONING MACHINE Patented Feb. 17, 1925.-

RAN'DOLI P H V. WELLER, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

IRONIN'G MACHIN E.

Application filed September 24, 1920. Serial No. 412,508.

T all whomc't may concern:

Be it khown that I, RANDOLPH V. WEI:- LER, a citizen of the United States, and res1- dent of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ironing Machines, of 'which thefollowing is a specification. a

The present invention relates to lronlng 1 machines and more particularly to the type in which there is provided a bed preferably in the form of a roll and a heated or ironing surface cooperating with said bed, an object of this invention being to provide in connection with the ironing surface, aburner which will direct its flame upon the ironing surface when the latter and the bed are in cooperation, but which will direct its flame away from such surface when such parts 4 2 are out of cooperation. Another object of this invention is to provide an actuating means for effecting a relative movement between the bed and the ironing surface, such means being5of simple construction and permittin the machine to adapt itself'to goods of di erent' thicknesses. A further object of the invention is to provide an actuating means in which the operating member thereof, when operating at one time, will effects cooperation between the iron and-the bed and when 'actuatedthe next time will effect a separation of these two parts.

To these and other ends, the invention consists of certain parts and combinations of parts, all of which will be hereinafter described, the novel features being pointed out in the appended claims. In the drawings: I

Fig. 1 .is a front view of an ironing machine constructed in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 2 is an end view; Fig. 3 is an end view of the opposite end of the machine; p

- Fig. 4; is a detail view of a portion of the actuating mechanism;

F ig. 5 is a sectional viewthrough a portiion of the actuating mechanism shown in s- Fig.6 is a View of the actuating mechanism similar to that shown in I which the parts are shown in thepositions which they occupy when the iron'is in cooperation with the bed;

Fig. 7 is a detail view showing the man- Fig. 4 in' ner. in which the detent operates to hold the iron in cooperation with the bed;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view through the bed and the iron, showing the burner adjusted to direct the flame away from the iron;.

Fig. 9 is a detail sectional view similar to Fig. 8, showing the burner adjusted to direct its flame on the iron; and

Fig. 10 is a longitudinal sectional View showing the burner in its position on the lI'OIl.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1 indicates the bed on which the-material is ironed. This ed is, in this instance, in the form of a wooden drum with a padded covering rotatably mounted at its end in end pieces 2 which have their opposed faces grooved to receive the ends of a base 3, the ends of the end pieces projecting below the base.

base, and screws or fastening devices pass through the end pieces and into the base and the cross pieces. The inner faces of the cross pieces are beveled or inclined so as to form abutments for the supporting legs 4 7 Crom pieces 3 are secured by screws to the under side of' thewhich are hinged to the base 3 at 5-so as to fold inwardly, the upper ends of the legs also abutting the under side of the base. The drum 1 may be driven inanysuitable manner. In this instance,-- on one end of its shaft, a gear 6 is arranged with which meshes a said countershaft also carrying a large worm wheel 9 meshing with a worm 10 on the shaft of the motor 11. The motor is supported on a bracket 12 which is detachably 1geld to one ofthe side pieces by bolts 13. y 14 which carries the gears 7 and 9 with the countershaft 8, the gear 6 may be exposed for driving through other means.

The iron or heated surface is, in this instance, in the form of a .cast metal plate 15 curved to conform to the :periphery of the bed and supported at opposite endsby arms 16 which are pivoted at 17 to the side pieces 2. The iron is preferably heated by a burner tube 18' extending parallel with the axis of the bed 1 and having a longitudinal series of openings 19 fromwhich the flame plays. This burner tube is preferablyjournalled in the arm 16 in order that the openings 19 may be turned to direct theflame.

either upon the ironing surface .15 as shown pinion 7 on the countershaft 8,.

removing the motor and the casing nism consists, in this instance, of two flexible and resilient straps 20, one end of each of which is anchored at 21 to afixed part such as the side frames 2 of the machine, while the other end is spirally wound about the burner tube 18, the two straps being arranged at opposite ends of the burner tube beyond the ends of the iron. With the turning of the tube 18, which acts as a shaft, the straps will be wound on such tube and -will draw the iron toward the bed 1. The iron under its own weight will fall away from the bed 1 when the burner tube 18 is released and this unwinds the straps 20 from the burner tube. For turning the burner tube, the latter is deflected laterally at 23 to provide an arm through which the fuel is fed to the burner tube by a tube 24, air openings 25 being provided at the end of the arm about the fuel tube. This arm 23 connects with a member 26 in this instance mounted to turn in a complete circle about an axis 27 The connection between the arm 23 and the member 26 is preferably resilient, being in the form of; a helical spring 28 anchored at 29 to the arm and at 30 to the. member 26, the point .30 being eccentric to the axis of the member 26. The member 26 preferably has two arms of different lengths, the connection 28 being secured to the short arm, while theopposite arm is adapted to cooperate with a stop or detent 31 situated out of the path of the short arm. This stop or detent 31 is pivoted at 32 within a casing 33 which also houses the member 26. A spring 34 acts on the stop or detent to hold it in the plane of operation of the long arm of the member 26.

A mechanism is rovided for turning the. member 26 in a motion so that it will r de over the detent 31 and the'detent is situated at such apoint that when the short arm 18 lowermost and the spring pulls on sa d short arm at a slight angle to the vertical, the long arm of the member 26 will be held against the detent, thus holding the iron incooperation with the rotary bed. Th s position of the parts is shown in Fig. 6 where the dotted line indicates the direction of the pull ofthe spring 28. Movement of the member 26 may be efiected through an oscillatory member 35 in the form of a drum rotatable on the shaft 27 and carrying a detent 36 which is pivoted at 37 and is acted upon by a spring 38. On one operation of the oscillatory member 35, the detent 36 will cooperate with the short arm of the member 26 and shift said member slightly beyond the swinging end of the detent 31, the movement of the member 35 being limited by a stop 38 thereon cooperating with the abutment 39. After this position of the member 26 is reached, the member 35 returns to its original position under the action of asp'ring, 40 preferably of volute form anchored at 41 to the housing 33 and at 42 to the member 35. On the next operation of the (member 35, the detent 36 will engage the long arm of said member 26 and shift said member to such a point that the spring 28 will act on the member 26 independently of the member 35 and permit said member 26 to return to its normal position, where theiron will be out of cooperation with the bed 1.

-Movement of the member 35 may be effected by a flexible connection 43 anchored at 44 to the drum of the member 35 and partially.

a brace 48 being anchored at 49 to the foot lever and at 50 to the support 4 in order to prevent sidewise swinging of the foot lever 46.

In the use of the machine, the iron having been heated through the burner 18, the motor 11 is started. The goods. are then placed upon the uppermost portion of the bed so as to project between the bed and the iron. The' operating treadle 46 is then depressed to bring the iron into cooperation with the bed and to turn the burner tube so that the flame 19 playson the iron.

After the goods have been ironed, the

treadle 46 is again depressed which permits the iron to moveaway from the bed 1 under its own weight.

From the foregoing it will be seen that there has been provided a burner which is movable to direct the flame upon the iron while the latter is in cooperation with the bed and to direct the flame off the iron while there is no cooperation between the iron and the bed. In this way, the overheating of the iron is prevented, due to the fact that even though the machine is not in use ior some time, the flame will not play on the iron except that the iron be in cooperation with the bed. The actuating mechanism for effecting the relative movement between the iron and the bed is of simple construction, It yields to permit goods of different thicknesses to be held between the bed and the iron, this yielding being permitted after the iron and bed from the iron when said have been brought into cooperation. This construction is inexpensive to manufactureand its operation is simple.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An ironing machine comprising a bed, an iron, a movable burner for heating the iron, and mechanism for effecting a rela tive movement between the bed and the iron f and having openings which in one position g 20 will play upon the iron. and in another position will play away from the iron, and means connectedwith said rotary burner for effecting a movement of the iron toward the bed when the burner is shifted to play on the iron.

3. An ironing machine comprising a bed, an iron, an operating member rotatably mounted on one of said parts, and a strap secured at one end to and wound about the rotary member and secured at its other end, to a fixed part so that a relative movementbetween the iron and the bed is effected on the turning of said member.

4. 'An ironing machine comprisinga bed, an iron movable toward and from the bed, a rotary operating member mounted on the iron, and a strap secured at one end to and wound about the rotary member and'con-fi nected with a fixed part.

5 5. An ironing machine comprising a bed, an iron movable toward and from the bed, a burner mounted to turn on said iron, and a strap connected with said burner to be wound with theturning of the burner and having its other end secured to a fixed part,

6. An ironing machine comprising a frame, a bed rotatably mounted on said frame, an iron pivotally'mounted on the frame to cooperate with the bed, a burner rotatable on said iron about an axis extending parallel with the'axis of rotation of the bed, and a strap having one end secured to the frame and its other end secured to the burner to be wound when the latter is turned.

7. An irbning machine comprising a frame, a bed rotatably mounted on the frame, an' iron pivotally mounted on the frame to cooperate with the bed, a burner tube mounted to turn on the iron and having openings adapted to play upon the. iron when the burner tube is moved in one direction and to play away from the iron when the burner tube is moved in the other direction, and a strap secured to the frame and then to the other such having a portion .wound by the burner tube when the latter is turned to play the flame upon the iron, said strap effecting the movement of the iron toward the bed.

8. An ironing machine comprising a bed,

an iron, and mechanism for effecting a relative movement between them comprising a member rotatable in a complete circle, and having two positions, one for holding the parts in cooperation and the other for permitting the separation of saidparts, a detent mounted on apart fixed relatively to the rotary part for retaining the rotary member in the position where it holds'the parts in, cooperation, and mechanism for etiecting the movement of said rotary member, to one position in cooperation with the detent, and

with said detent, said mechanism comprising an oscillatory member engaging the rota-ry'memberwhen' moved in one direction and turning in the other direction free of said rotary member.

9. An ironing machine'com rising a bed, an iron, and mechanism for e ectmg a relative movement between them comprlsmg :1

position out of cooperation member rotatable in a complete circle and having two positions, one in which it holds the iron and the bed in coo eration and the other of which it permits t e separation of said parts, a resilient connection between one of the first two named parts 'and a point on the rotary member eccentric to the axis of the latter and an oscillatory member movable in one direction to en ge and turn the rotary member and in th: other direction, free of said rotary membe 10. An ironing machme comprising a bed,

an iron, and mechanism for efiecting cooperation between the bed and the iron comprising a rotary member having two POSI- tions, one of which causes cooperation be tween the bed and the iron and*the other of which permits the separation between arts, 'a resilient connection between one o the first two named parts and-a point on the member eccentric to the axis of the latter, an oscillatory member movable in one direction to shift the rotary member and in the other direction free of said ro tary member, an operating member for shifting the oscillatory member in the direction in which it shifts the rotary member, and a, s ring for moving the oscillatory member 111 the-other direction.

11. An ironing. machine comprising 'a bed, an ironand mechanism for eifecting cooperation between the bed and the iron, said mechanism embodying a member rotatable in a vcomplete circle having two positions, one for causing the coo eration moving said oscillatory member in the opposite direction. 7

12; An ironing machine comprising a rotary be d, an iron movable toward and from the bed, a shaft mounted to turn on the iron, a connection between said shaft and a fixed part for effecting the movement of the iron toward and from the bed, a

member rotatable in a complete circle and having a resilient connection with said shaft to turn the latter, said rotary member having two positions, one of which efi'ects cooperation between the iron and the bed and the other of which permits the separation of such parts, a detent for holding the rotary member in the first named position, said detent being so situated that the re silient connection holds the rotary member in cooperation with the detent, and means for'efi'ecting the movement of the rotary member in a complete circle.

13. An ironing bed having a padded covering, a shoe conforming to the surface of the bed, a heating means for the shoe, and means for reduclng the 'intensity of the heat upon said shoe as the shoe moves away from the bed.

'14. In an ironing machine, an ironing roll, a movable ironing meinber cooperating therewith, a as burner located within said ironing mem er, and means controlled by the movement of said ironing member for moving said burner to vary the heating effect of its flame upon the working wall of said member.

ANDOLPH V. WELLER. 

